Recruitment and References

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When recruiting, your first decision is whether to advertise a vacancy internally or externally.

Remember, in redundancy situations an employer should offer vacancies to existing staff. Employers have a duty to actively look for alternative positions for staff selected for redundancy.

What is the disadvantage of advertising internally?

Recruiting internally can negatively affect diversity. Likewise, asking existing staff members to source candidates can result in an existing demographic being over-represented at work.

Recruiting externally often makes a workplace more diverse. Not doing so may cause you discrimination law issues.

Why you should advertise carefully

Advertise vacancies carefully to avoid discriminating against potential candidates.  Using phrases like:

• “Mature staff” could exclude young workers
• “Youthful workforce” would exclude older workers
• “Mobile” or “energetic” might discriminate against disabled candidates

Why application forms are popular

Application forms are increasingly popular because they:

• Give candidates an equal chance to reflect their skills and experience
• Can be tailored by the employer find out more about the individual

Always consider:

• How the form will be distributed – not all candidates have internet access
• Providing the form in brail or audio, to avoid inadvertently discriminating at this early stage

Interview panels – a guide

• Decide if an interview panel is appropriate (depending on the business’ size)

If you do have an interview panel, members should:

• Meet pre-interview to prepare and discuss the order and type of questions to be asked
• Find out beforehand if adjustments are needed, e.g. having a ground floor meeting (to avoid steps) or having someone meet visually impaired candidates outside the building
• Ask questions relevant to the candidate’s ability to carry out the role.  Asking, for example, if a female candidate plans to have children is potentially discriminatory
• Keep consistent notes of how the candidates were scored by the panel